Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-12-22

can't evade the responsibility by say.
! ing, "We are not our brothers. keeper .
Morally, we are RESPONSIBLE to certain
extent. But.some say, Each individ-
ual is responsible for his own conduct. u
| True, legally. but morally, in the light
of duty, he alone is not responsible.
The plea of personal liberty"i is made.
, No one has the liberty to do anything
! injurious to others, individual or col
lectively. What! liberty to injure the
the community, destroy the peace and
happiness of families, to rnln the health
and character of individuals? I will
not dwell on this part of the subject,
nor shall say anything special on the
financial aspect of the question because
it sinks into compare tive insignificance
when we consider the consequences of
drunkenness; yet even this point is
weak when we remember that most of
the money they pay comes directly
from the people, and generally from
those least able to bear it; and, again,
remember the cost of crimes caused by
drunkenness.
1t is said that IS per cent. of the con-
victs in our penitentiaries got there by
whisky. directly or indirectly. Some
say if we legislate on such subjects
there will be no end to it. Let them
consider the extent of this evil. It is
n 0yy ory hoI, mi Ia In fns fhron
fourth of the convicts, to say nothing of
minor crimes. Then consider the FAM
lily and personal troubles, most Of which
never reach the public. But some say
"Closing the saloons won't diminish
the amount of strong drink used. +"
Why, then, do brewery associations
send $50 900 to Texas and $4,000 to
Tennessee to defeat it? Such argu-
ment is inconsistent with facts. 9th
ers say, eff saloons are closed druggists
will sell 1t Illegally" Not if the peo-
pie enforce the law governing drug.
gists, as they should and will, II they
are good citizens. On this point wish
to say that I honestly believe physi-
clans too often prescribe alcoholic stim-
ulants, as matter of routine, and be-
cause patients want it. without regard
to the effect in forming dangerous
habit that may ruin the patient, to say
nothing of the hereditary consequences.
There is much said about legislating
on religious and moral subjects. The
cry is raised of "Uniting church and
statev' Is not our legal organization
based upon the teachings of the Chris
tian religion? We glory in our Chris
tian civilization" at the same time we
all oppose '.the union of church aud
staten IN the correct meaning of that
term. The teaching of bible truths and
principles has laid the foundation for
laws to maintain and enforce those
principles. For example, the bible
teaches us the institution of matrimeny
with family relations. We make laws
to uphold and enforce that holy insti-
tuition and its sacred relations. The
and all the hosts of crimes. Our laws
are made to punish and prevent such
crimes. The bible teaches the obliga-
tions we owe our neigh Dor, the COM
munity, the state. Our constitution
and laws are made with special refer
eEce to such obligations, aud so on dd
inJfnituna. Among other things the
bible condemns drunkenness and urges
temperance 1t tells us to beware of
strong drink, saying swine is mock
er, strong drink is raging, and whose
ever Is deceived thereby is not wise."
"Who hath woe, who hath sorrow,
who hath contentious? He that tarrieth
long at the wine." "Then look not
upon the wine, for at last it biteth like
q serpent and stingeth like an adder"
"Cursed is he who puteth the bottle
from his neighbours lips" The bible
teaches all this and much more on this
evil, yet some cay We must not legis-I
late on this subject. We have made
laws to punish and prevent other evils
taught in the bible, but must not touch
this one. Pray tell us why? Is it such
a small evil? Is 1t so uncommon: Are
its consequences SO Insignificant that
we need not notice theme Does it in
iure neither individuals or communi-
ties? Yes, by the teaching of Chris
tianity laws have been made to curb
evil passions by punishing crimes and
mitigate evils unnumbered, and to ele-
vate our race by every possible means.
What then? Must We stop and trem-
BILE before this monster, this Galiah,
and dare not meet him in open com hats
The magnitude of the evil is the leason
why SO many fear to oppose it. They